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A call to action

At a meeting Wednesday night, Kathy Kline holds up an example of yard signs that can be used by residents in a planned Neighborhood Drug Watch program.
Large crowd comes out as Butler seeks to form Neighborhood Drug Watch

A call to action against illegal drugs was issued Wednesday night.

About 60 people attended a meeting at Butler's Public Safety Building aimed at making the city the first Neighborhood Drug Watch community in Butler County.

Former city councilwoman Kathy Kline organized the meeting and is leading the effort.

She opened the meeting by citing the recently released statistic of a record 92 drug overdose deaths in the county last year.

“We have to own the problem,” Kline said. “I want us to start working together toward a solution for the city.”

The drug watch program encourages residents to call police or 911 to report crime.

City police Lt. Chad Rensel, who works with the city's Neighborhood Crime Watch program, said the police department has an email account — communtyrelations@butlercitypd.com — where residents who aren't comfortable calling 911 can leave information about drug dealing and other crimes.

“We're here because we have a drug crisis,” Rensel said.

He urged residents to call 911 as many times as they want, or send emails to report crime or suspicious activity. In addition, reports of drug activity can be made to the Butler County Drug Task Force by calling 1-800-END-DRUGS.

Officers responding to 911 calls might encounter the people whom residents report. Even if the suspects aren't found by police, the sight of officers makes drug dealers uncomfortable and could cause them to move elsewhere, Rensel said.

All the tips police receive are documented in a database that police can use to develop criminal cases, he said.

Several residents said they have called 911 or police numerous times about neighbors dealing drugs, but nothing seems to happen.

Rensel said he realizes that an apparent lack of immediate action can be frustrating, but it takes time to build criminal cases. He stressed that people should call as many times as they want.“Call all day if you must. Call us 50 times a day if you need to,” Rensel said.Police Chief Ron Brown also encouraged people to call 911 and report drug activity.Kline said she is working on a mobile phone app that residents will be able to use to make reports to police.Neighborhood Drug Watch signs, which can be purchased for $10 or $20 through the website www.neighborhooddrugwatch.org, can be posted in yards to let drug dealers know someone is watching them. But residents must follow up by calling or emailing police to make the signs effective.Some residents said they worry that putting signs in their yards would lead to retribution from drug dealers.Rensel said criminals try not to draw attention to themselves, but those who are not comfortable with signs shouldn't use them.He said residents can leave outdoor lights on to make dealers worry that someone might be watching them.A city firefighter encouraged residents to report issues like high grass and other property neglect to the code enforcement office.Rensel said unkempt properties lead criminals to believe no one cares about what takes place there.Kline said future drug watch meetings will be posted on the group's website.

<div class="youtube"><iframe width="1280" height="720" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4ZzMaU8yNoE?rel=0&controls=0&showinfo=0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>

Speaker Gail Carpenter talks to about 60 attendees Wednesday night at the Butler Public Safety building during a meeting for a proposed Neighborhood Drug Watch program.

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